Is There Somewhere
by taxidamask
Summary: Levi called it quits to his and Eren's relationship years ago, leaving Eren's heart shattered and those feelings in the past. It just takes one fateful encounter to reignite old flames and bring those feelings back. Check out the sequel to this story on ao3! archiveofourown . org/works/15421785


They bumped into each other by coincidence. One was on a business trip, the other just walking to his local favorite coffee shop. Ex-lovers. They had almost been soul mates. They made eye contact, but the other's gaze was caught by a flash of light from the one's finger. . A ring.

"Eren." the short man brusquely addressed him, drawing his eyes back upward

"Hi, Levi," answered Eren bittersweetly. His heart panged, but he ignored it.

"What are you doing here?" Levi inquired.

"I go to school around here, remember? I was about to go to my favorite coffee shop. Why are you here?" Eren fired the question back.

"Business trip. We're going to meet a potential client tomorrow. Hopefully it goes well"

"Do you want to join me for coffee? We can catch up." The words left Eren's mouth before he could think about it.

"Sure," Levi agreed, a little too quickly.

They walked in silence, side by side, each one suppressing the urge to hold the other's hand, like old times. Both of them sat down at a table, across from each other, once they had rounded the corner and entered the coffee shop. It was the mirror image of some of their previous dates. Levi would always show up with one rose for Eren, except for once. That once, he was empty handed. That was the last time they had met, too. That day was the day that always lingered in Eren's mind, the stinging reminder of what could have been. Eren flinched at the memory, pushing it out of his thoughts immediately. It still hurt although it had been almost five years. .

Levi's thoughts, unknown to Eren, were much the same. He wished he had never broken up with Eren, still cursing himself when he remembered what he had done. It had been a selfish decision.

The air was stilled by the looming awkward silence. Neither of them got up to get coffee. Both of them wondered why they had agreed to this.

Levi broke the silence first, his voice cutting the air. "How's school?"

"It's good; I'm going for my Master's in Nursing, but I can't wait to get out of this city. I need new scenery and a refreshing change," Eren answered. His decision to stay in the city while Levi left had been one of the driving points to their break-up. A long distance relationship would have been too much and too hard, Levi argued, when in reality, he didn't want to make the effort to build on his feelings for Eren. He had wanted Eren to stay right beside him, and when that didn't work, he had wanted Eren to leave with no strings attached.

The ring Levi had bought, intended for Eren, was now on a different man's finger.

"That's good. I wish you the best."

"What about you?" Eren wondered.

"I run Trost Industries with my husband. Business is booming spectacularly."

Those words pierced Eren's heart. _My husband. _So his suspicions had been correct. It was almost funny, actually. They had been separated for five years. Those words shouldn't have hurt Eren. He should have been over Levi. _But is there anyone out there that genuinely completely moves on from their first love? Eren thought._

On the other hand, those words seemed to come out of Levi's mouth like vomit. It sounded as though it tasted foul to speak them, and Levi's thoughts were much the should have been talking about Eren being his husband. He wanted to keep things civil and treat their meeting like business, but it was too difficult. He wanted to hug Eren one more time. Kiss Eren one more time. Hold him one more time. All of these wants he couldn't fulfill.

The air remained still, echoing heavily on both men's eardrums. The world around them seemed to keep going with its idle background chatter, but theirs came to a halt when Levi spoke again. "Come back with me to my hotel room." It wasn't exactly a question, more like a request. A request to fulfill his wants one last time.

Eren knew what saying yes would entail. It would reopen old wounds. It would break down the walls he had built to guard his heart, only damaging it further. The progress he made to mend it would be for nothing. But he nodded in agreement, too scared to speak, and they both hastily got up and left the coffee shop. Levi slipped the ring into his pocket as they walked. They both wanted to forget for one night. They both wanted to be with each other again. Even just for one night. This time, when they walked side by side of each other, their fingers intertwined like old times.

Eren felt like he was where he belonged, right by Levi's side. The weather was cool, but his shivers were in anticipation of what was going to happen. They walked together wordlessly, silently acknowledging what was going on. The hotel they entered was expensive, shocking Eren as he realized how vastly different their lives had become. It had to cost at least a third of his student loans to stay there just for one night.

Levi was tempted to call off the whole thing. He knew what they were doing was very wrong, that it was unfair to Erwin. He felt like a piece of shit and knew he was a piece of shit. The ring burned through his pocket, weighing him down alongside his thoughts. But that couldn't stop him from wanting to have Eren for one more night. Nothing could.

The elevator led them up to the penthouse suite. Levi took Eren to the middle of the room and removed his phone from his pocket. Eren thought he was answering a call until the music started. It filled the room, filling the empty silence. He put his phone down and wrapped his arms around Eren, and Eren returned the gesture. They started awkwardly swaying to the music that came out of the speaker, Levi leaning his head on Eren's shoulder.

"_I'm sorry, but I fell in love tonight._

_I didn't mean to fall in love tonight._

_You're looking like you fell in love tonight._

_Could we pretend that we're in love?"_

Even if it was just one more night together. Even if it was wrong and forbidden to rekindle what they had. Even though they wanted to pretend there was nothing there, they knew they were lying to themselves. They sealed the night with a passionate kiss, the spark they had once had lighting up once more.


End file.
